GIVING BACK, TO WIDE-EYED KIDS: Went and told my story to the kids of Graphic Design program over at Portland State University. Talking about making logos, process, pitfalls, techniques and a couple tall tales. Kate Bingaman-Burt, that complete ball of artistic fire, has really taken that program to new heights! Design can be fun, and damned if she’ll let it be anything but. Atta’ girl. Way to go. Good to see all that fun color and energy in those halls. Bravo.

Good seeing you, Vickery! Keep fighting the good fight!

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I STILL REMEMBER HOW THEY TASTE: Crayola Crayons, through the years. (Thanks, D. Schille!)

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THIS WAY, PARD: I’m betting, every John Wayne poster, ever. Years and years of Duke movie history in that one.

Here’s where things get real fun on that site.

And hell, didn’t he die with like 40 pounds of compacted shit in his intestines, or something? Man, sounds like a horrible way to go. I can’t say I’m too much of a John Wayne fan, but do appreciate his place in the American spectrum. I’ve been to his hometown of Winterset, Iowa and visited the house he was born in. With Leigh.

Here’s one of the Duke’s famous quotes: “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.â€

(Thanks, James!)

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AS A YOUNGSTER IN THOSE ’80s, I WAS KINDA “SCARED SHITLESS” OF THIS STUFF: An “In Case of a Nuclear Attack” poster from around that time. I remember being very scared of the “MX Missile” talk on the news. Scary infographics! I was 10 or something. My mom wouldn’t let me watch the The Day After and hell, that was prob’ly a good call. Would messed me up. (Cousin Scott sent this one. Thanks! Dinner this weekend?)

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MY COPIES SHOWED UP THIS MORNING: Uncle Tupelo’s “Anodyne” on big, beefy 180g vinyl. Bought three copies, just for the fuck of it. One to play, one to hoard and one to put in the vault. Something like that.

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ON THE PLAYER:

01. Bitch Magnet - Ben Hur
02. Centro-Matic - Operation Motorcide
03. R.E.M. - Life’s Rich Pageant